Pickup baler



5 Shee,tsSheet 1 Aug. 7, s D. U L

PICK-UP BALER Filed June 8, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll ll 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 S. D. RUSSELL PICK-UP BALER Filed June 8, 1942 l HH.

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Aug. 7, 1945- s. D. RUSSELL PICK-UP BALER Filed June 8, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 u T Q Patented Aug. 7, 1945 PICKUP BALEE Stanley D. Russell, Racine, Wia, assignor to J. 1. Case Company, a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 8, 1942, Serial No. 446,303

11 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in pickup balers for hay, straw, or other like material. The invention, although having its chief usefulness in connection with traveling balers, i. e. of th type which are drawn through the field, has features which are capable of use in connection with stationary balers, l. e. those to which the material is fed by hand or otherwise.

they occupy at a different point in the cycle of movement.

Referring to the drawings, III represents a a whole a tractor which is equipped with the usual draft gear I I by which the baler is drawn through the field and by which the front end of the baler The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved baler construction by which the hay or other material is produced or delivered in the form of a bale, having fairly distinct layers or sections of the compressed material, so that, after the wires have been loosened or removed, the several layers or sections can be removed one at a time without it being necessary to use a knife or other tool or device for dividing the bale.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an arrangement by which the compacting or compressing of the material, layer by layer, is facilitated by the compression of a continuous stream of the traveling material adjacent the zone where it enters the baling zone, so that the severing device will function with great efliciency. Another important feature of the invention consists in the arrangement by which the flow of material into the compression chamber or guidcway is properly dis-- tributed from top to bottom of the bale, so that. when the bale is formed, it will be compressed to substantially the sameextent at the top of the bale as it is at the bottom. Other features of novelty will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawings accompanying this application. and which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tractor drawn pick-up hay baler in which the various features of the invention are embodied;

is supported as it travels over the ground. The baler as a whole may be designated by the numeral l2 and, as shown, it is supported upon a pair of suitable ground wheels l3 and M. These round wheels are on opposite sides of the machine, which includes a suitable frame designated as a whole I! and having a forwardly projecting portion l8, suitably braced by the members I1 and ll and connected to the draft member or hitch ll.

Although the baler, if desired, may be equipped with its wn prime mover, it may be conveniently Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown I in Fig. 1, certain parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fi 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlargedsection taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of a portion of th machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line H of Fi 2;

Fig. '7 is a section taken on the lineL-l of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentaly view similar to Fig. '1, but showing certain parts in the position which operated from the motive power of the tractor by means of the power take-off which is indicated at It in Fig. 2 and through a universal joint operates a rearwardly extending transmission shaft or tail shaft 2! the rear end of which, through a universal joint, 22, is connected to a longitudinal shaft 23. The shaft 23 is joumaled in suitable bearings 24 and 25 and on its: rear end is equipped with a belt pulley 26. The belt pulley 28, as shown best in Fig. 6, is connected by means of a. belt 21 with a large pulley in the form of a fly wheel 28 at the opposite side of the machine, which pulley 28 is connected to a shaft 28 joumaled in a bearing 30 formed as a part of a housing which encloses gearing, presently to be described. The outer end of said shaft 28 is joumaled in a bearing 3| formed on the end of a bracket 32 secured to the frame of the machine.

On the shaft 29, thereis keyed a pinion 33 which meshes with an internal spur gear 33a keyed to the rear end of the main crank shaft 34. Said crank shaft is supported in suitable bearings 35 and 36 and is made with a ruggedly constructed crank, the pin 31 of which is engaged by the big end of a connecting rod or pitman 38. The other end of said pitman 38 is connected by means of a pivotal joint 39 between a. air of lugs 40 formed on the inside of the front wall or head of a hollow ram H which is rectangular in cross section and is arranged t reciprocate in the compression chamber or guide-way 42 within which the material is compressed and baled.

It will be seen that the guide-way designated as a whole 42 extends in a ho ontal direction crosswise of the line of draft, a d it will be understood that said guide-way at the end remote way 42 through a substantially rectangular.

opening ll (see Fig. 8) in the front wall of the guide-way, it being understood that said front opening 4! is th only opening in the guide-way 42 within the general zone of operation of the reciprocating ram 41. The material which enters said opening 45 is propelled by suitable arrangements later described.

It will be understood, of course, that the rearward movement of the material transversely of the guide-way 42 is arrestedwhen said material engages the rear wall 46 of the guide-way or ram chamber, which will occur when the crank 31 is in its out position indicated in Fig. 8, so as to expose the inlet opening 48. When the crank moves in the direction of the arrow 41 (see Fig. 8) to the position shown in Fig. '7,

the body of the ram 4| closes said opening '45 and pushes before it the material which has entered the guide-way. Said material is severed from the flowing stream of material by means of a severing device, which includes a stationary shear member 48 extending vertically and constituting one side of said opening II, the othershear member being a knife 49 attached to, or forming a part of, the head of the ram ll.

Describing the means for feeding the material from the window 50 up into the compression chamber where it is baled, it will be seen that there is a pick-up device designated as a whole II which feeds the material on to a traveling belt it. While the material is being fed forward by the generally horizontally extending belt 52, it is also being operated upon by a pair of oppositely disposed, vertically extending belts designated as a whole It and 54, which not only serve to feed the material forwardly but also to compress the same prior to delivery into the zone. Said pick-up BI and belts 52, II and It may now be described in detail.

Forwardly extending from the main frame of the baler, there are pair of girders II and II. The front end of II is connected to a transverse frame member I7 which is also rigidly secured to the main frame element I! of the baler. The

frame members Just described support the pickup and belt arrangements and their operating parts.

The pick-up Ii is of the usual construction having a main shaft I! supported in suitable bearings on. the frame, one of said bearings being indicated at I! in F18. 1. As shown best in Fig. 4 and Fig. 1, the pick-up in its main elements comprises a drum I. carried by the shaft 5! and on said drum 80 there are distributed a plurality of sets of pick-up fingers I, there being about ten rows of such fingers and about eight fingers to each row, spaced qually around the circumference of the drum, asshown best in Fig. 4. The ends of said fingers extend through slots 82 in a housing desi nated as a whole 83, said housing extending between the side wings I4 and 85 of the pick-up. It will be understood that, when the shaft 58 is rotated terial in the windrows and move same upwardly I and rearwar ly. so that the material will be delivered .to the forward end of the belt '2.

In order to drive the pick-up shaft l8 and belts, the end of said shaft 5! is equipped with a suitable sprocket 61, which, by means of a chain II, is connected to a sprocket I on a jack shaft ll. Said :Iack shaft is joumaled in suitable hearings in the frame of the machine and on its opposite end is equipped with a bevel gear II which is driven by a bevel gear I! o a horizontally or longitudinally extending shaft 13. The front end of said shaft 'lfis iournaled in a suitable frame bearing I4, and the rear end of said shaft 13 is journaled in a bearing II. The rear end of said shaft extends beyond the bearing and is equipped with a belt pulley I. which rests upon and is driven by the top stretch of the main belt 21, previously described. I

The horizontal longitudinal belt conveyor or apron I2 is trained around a pair of rollers mounted on parallel transverse shafts 11 and I8, said shafts being mounted in suitable bears ings in the frame of the machine. Only the front shaft 1'! of said pair of shafts is positively driven. This is accomplished by the following mechanism.

On the end of the longitudinal shaft II, there is keyed a bevel pinion I! which meshes with a corresponding bevel pinion ll keyed to the verti- .cal shaft ll, rotatably supported in an upper bearing 82 and a lower bearing ll. On the lower extremity of said shaft ll, there is keyed a belt pulley 84 which, by means of a crossed belt 4 88 (see Fig. 6) drives a belt pulley I keyed to the lower end of a vertical shaft 81. Bald vertical shaft 81 is rotatably supported in II and u. Above the bearing IS, the shaft 81 carries a bevel pinion which meshes with a bevel pinion ll keyed on the end of said shaft H. The sets of bevel gears just described are so positioned on their respective shafts that the shaft 11 will be driven in the proper direction to drive the apron or belt conveyor If rearwardly when the tractor is operating.

To the shaft ll previously described, there is secured a drum or roller 92 around which is trained a belt conveyor is previousb referred to. The rear portion of said vertical belt or apron if is supported on a roller 88 mounted on a vertical shaft 04 journaled to rotate freely in suitable bearings carried by the upper-rand lower members of the frame.

On the vertical shaft 81 previously described. there is fixed a roller or drum 95 around which is trained the vertical belt or apron 54. The other or rear end of said belt 54 is trained around a roller N fixed on a vertical shaft 91 rotatably mounted in upper and lower bearings ll and N (see Fig. 3) formed as integral parts of a swinging skeleton frame MI. The front end of said skeleton frame Hill is also equipped with hearing members Ill and Ill which rotatably receive the shaft 81 previously referred to,

The bearing parts llll and I02 of the frame III! are extended at an angle beyond the drum or roller 95 and are connected together by a yoke member ill! (see Fig. 8). In the middle of said yoke I03, there is integrally formed an L-shaped bifurcation I04 between the ears of which there is secured by means of rivets or bolts III the front end of an arm I08. At the rear end of said arm (see Fig. 1), there is formed a socket ill! for lili'andacrank pin lllon a'crank Ill carrledby the front end of the main crank shaft 34.

In order to prevent sagging of the various belt conveyors due to pressure of the material at points between the supporting rollers of the various belt conveyors, it may be found advisable to support the active stretches of the various belt conveyors oraprons by meansof platform supports. For example, as shown in Fig. 1, the belt conveyor 53 is equipped with a support H2, the swinging belt conveyor 54 is equipped'with a suitable support Ill, and the horizontal apron 52 is equipped with a support 4 (see Fig. 3). A cover plate H5, placed horizontally above the belts 53 and 54, confines the material within the conveyoras the material is moved toward the feeding opening 45 leading to the compression .chamber 42.

The arrangement functions inthe following a manner. When the tractor is operating and is drawing the-device through the field, the power take-off shaft of the tractor, through tail shaft 2 l drives belt pulley 26, which in turn drives belt ulle I6 and fly-wheel 28. The fly-wheel .28, fhroifgh the gearing33-33a, drives crank shaft 34, which, through crank 31 and pitman 38, serves to 'reciprocate the ram 4| within the compression chamber or guide-way of the .baler. Any material which has entered through opening 45 in the front wall of the guide-way is, of course, severed by the knives 49 and 48 and thus is compressed, a batch at a time.

The pulley 16, through shaft 13 and bevel gears 10 and 12 and chain sprocket 58, drives shaft 58 of the pick-up which tosses the material on to the front stretch of the belt conveyor or traveling apron 52. Said traveling apron 52 is driven by a mechanism previously described. It will be understood also that, by means of mechanism previously described, the vertical belt conveyors 53 and 54 will also be driven in such direction as to convey the material rearwardly. The belt conveyor 54, however, is not stationary as is the belt conveyor 53, but oscillates or reciprocates in unison with the main crank shaft 34. This reciprocatory or oscillatory movement of the belt conveyor 54 is effected by means of the crank I which, through pitman I09, reciprocates or oscillates the rear end of the arm 106 which is rigidly connected to the bifurcated bell-crank m and through it to the skeleton frame I (see Fig. 3), the rear end of which carries the drum 95 around which the belt conveyor 54 is trained.

Hence, as the crank ill on the main crank shaft 34 rotates, the rear end of the belt conveyor 54 will be oscillated or reciprocated towards and away from the relatively stationary belt conveyor 53 and thus serves alternately to compress and release the hay or other material which is being carried rearwardly by the horizontal apron 52.

By an examination of Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, it will be seen that the relative positions of the main crank pin 31 and the crank pin H0 are such that the material I (see Fig. '7) located in the opening has been compressed by the apron 54 to a point where it is ready to receive and be operated upon by the cutting edge 49 of the ram which, at that instant, has just begun to advance into its held or compressed into proper condition to effect an eflicient severing operation. A

It will be understood also that, on account, of

.the fact that both of the aprons 53 and 54 are driven and extend vertically for a distance equal to the height of the bale, the material will be well distributed from top to bottom of the feed opening, and there will be virtually no tendency for the material to become more solidly concentrated at the bottom than at the top of the bale. This feature is of considerable advantage, in view of the fact that it is important-to have the bales compressed sufficiently throu out the cross section of the bale while, at the same 1time,it is not desirable to have too greata compressionat any pslrtgular pomt in the bale, otherwise the errc a on ofair will be impeded, and the a not maintain its quality. b y Wm The scope of the invention should bedetermined by reference to the a end I c pp ed claims.

1. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination of a horizontal guide-way a frame having for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in one end of and longitudinally of said guide-way for compressing the material fed into said guide-way, means for directing the material into the guide-way into the path of said plunger, means for preliminarily compacting the material in a direction parallel to the plunger axis prior to the entrance of the material mto the guide-way, said last means including a vertically extending baflle extending towards said open 3 and inclined in the direction to compress the aterial as the latter approaches the guide-way, means for severing the materialreceiving material to be baled, said guide-way extending crosswise of the line of draft and being rectangular. in cross section with a vertical front portion having an inlet opening therein, a. plunger arranged to reciprocate in one end of and longitudinally of said guide-way across said opening for compressing the material fed into said guideway, means for preliminarily compacting the material in a direction parallel to the plunger axis prior to entrance of the material through said opemng mto said guide-way, said last named means including a vertically extending baflle adjacent said opening for compressing the material as t is directed towards said opening, arid means for reciprocating said baflie synchronized with the movement of said plunger.

3. In a machine for baling hay or like material, the combination of a frame provided with a horlzontal guide-way for'receiving the material to be baled and bein rectangular in cross section with a vertical front portion having an inlet opening therein, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in one end of and longitudinally of said guide-way across said opening, complementary shearing knives provided respectively on one side of said opening and on the plunger, and means for directing material into the guideway through said opening, said last named means including a belt arranged in a vertical plane incutting zone. Thus the material will be firmly s l d t wa ds said openi so a to co press provided with an opening the material fed through said opening, axially vertical rollers around which said belt is trained, and means synchronized with the plunger for reciprocating the roller adjacent said opening cross-wise of its axis.

4. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination or a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged, to reciprocate in and longimaterial fed thereinto, a Substantially horizontally disposed conveyor for propelling material into said chamber and into the path of said plunger, means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the fleld, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally disposed contudinally of said chamber for compressing the' veyor, a pair of bailies extending upwardly from said conveyor and extending from adjacent the receiving end of said conveyor toward said baling chamber, at least one of said bailles being mounted for horizontal rocking movement about an axis adjacent the receiving end thereof so as to cause the delivery end thereof to be movable toward the delivery end of the other of said bailles for eflecting preliminary compaction of the material as an incident to the delivery thereof to said chamber, and means for eilfecting said horizontally rocking baillemovement.

5. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination of a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in and longitudinally of said chamber for compressing the material fed thereinto, a substantially horizontally disposed conveyor for propelling material into said chamber and into the path of said plunger,-means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the field, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally disposed conveyor, a pair of bailles extending upwardly from said conveyor and extending from adjacent the receiving end of said conveyor toward said baling chamber, at least one of said baflles being mounted for horizontal rocking movement about an axis adjacent the receiving end thereof so as to cause the delivery end thereof to be movable toward the delivery end 01 the other of said bailles for effecting preliminary compaction of the material as an incident to the delivery thereof to 'said chamber, means for effecting-said horizontally rocking baille movement, said horizontally rockable baille embodying material propelling means for assisting said conveyor to deliver the material to said chamber, and means for actuating said material propelling means during the movement of said baille.

horizontal rocking veyor-and extending end of said conveyor toward said baling chamber, at least .one of said bailles being mounted for h movement about an axis adiacent the receiving end thereof so as to cause the delivery end thereof to be movabletoward the delivery and of the other of said bailies ior eil'ecting preliminary compaction of the material as an incident to the delivery thereof to said chamber, means for effecting said horizontally r baille movement, said horizontally rockable bame embodying material propelling means for assisting said conveyor to deliver the material to said chamber, means for actuatin said material propelling means during the movement of saidbaille,

- wardly from the vehicle for connection to a tractor. a power take-oil shaft adapted to bedriven by the tractor and extending in the general direction of said draw bar and to the rear of said baling chamber, a pulley on said shaft rearwardly of said chamber at one end thereof, a fly wheel rotatably mounted on the vehicle rearwardly of said chamber at the opposite end thereof and operatively connected to said plunger for eflecting reciprocation of the latter-as an incident to rotation of the fly wheel, and a belt connection between said pulley and fly wheel for driving the latter.

a. In a device for baling hay or like material in the fleld, the combination of a vehicle embodying aframe having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in and longitudinally of said chamber for compressing the material fed thereinto, a substantially horizontally-disposed conveyor for propelling material into said chamber and into the path 01' said plunger, means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the fleld, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally-disposed conveyor, and movable means forming a part of said conveyor and actuated synchronously with the movement of 6. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination of a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a. plunger arranged to reciprocate in and longitudinally of said chamber for compressing the material fed thereinto, a substantially horizontally disposed conveyor for propelling material into said chamber and into the path of said plunger. means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the field, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally disposed conveyor, a pair of baiiles extending upwardly from said consaid plunger transversely of the line of movement of the conveyed material for intermittently compacting the material in a direction parallel to the plunger axis prior to the delivery or the material into said chamber.

9. In a device for baling hay or like material in the fleld, the combination of a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in and longitudinally of said chamber for compressing the material fed thereinto, a substantially horizontally disposed conveyor for propelling material into said chamber and into the path or said plunger, said conveyor including side walls relatively movable toward and away from each other for compacting the material in a direction parallel to the plunger axis prior to the delivery or the material into said chamber, means connected to reciprocate with said plunger for causing-the intermittent relative movement 01' said conveyor rom adjacent the receiving side walls, and other means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the field, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally disposed conveyor.

10. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination or a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal baling chamber for receiving material to be baled, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in and longitudinally of said chamber for compressing the material fed thereinto, a substantially horizontally disposed conveyor for propellin material into said chamber and into the .path of said plunger, means for picking the material from the ground as the vehicle moves through the field, said pick-up means being arranged to deliver the material to said horizontally disposed conveyor, and movable means forming a part of said conveyor and actuatable transversely to and independently of the material-advancing-movement of said conveyor for compacting the material in a. direction parallel to the plunger axis prior to the delivery or the material into said chamber.

11. In a device for baling hay or like material in the field, the combination of a vehicle embodying a frame having a horizontal guide-way for receiving material to be baled, said guide-way extending cross-wise of the line of draft and being rectangular in cross section with a vertical front portion having an inlet opening therein, a plunger arranged to reciprocate in one end and longitudinally of said guide-way across said opening for compressing the material fed into said guideway, means adjacent said opening for preliminarily compacting the material in a direction parallel to the plunger axis and conveying said material transversely of said guide-way to and through said openin into said guide-way, said means including a vertically extending movable baffle for effecting the compacting of said material independently of the material-advancingmovement of said means, and means for actuating said baiile.

STY D. RUSSELL. 

